UPDATE 2-Palestinians clash with Israeli forces in West Bank, Jerusalem

JERUSALEM, March 8 (Reuters) - Clashes broke out between Israeli security forces and Palestinian protesters in the occupied West Bank and at a holy site in Jerusalem on Friday as tensions rose just weeks before a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama.

Trouble broke out after the funeral in the West Bank of Palestinian who died of wounds on Thursday after being shot by Israeli soldiers during a confrontation two weeks ago.

More than 5,000 people attended the ceremony but afterwards a group of about 100 mourners threw stones at Israeli soldiers, who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets, a military spokeswoman said.  In Jerusalem's Old City, Israeli police fired stun grenades at Palestinian worshippers who threw rocks and firebombs at them after Friday prayers at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Dozens of officers in riot gear entered the politically sensitive area, one of Islam's holiest sites, to break up a crowd of several hundred protesters.

Palestinian medical workers said about 35 protesters were injured at the plaza, none seriously. A number of policemen were slightly hurt, a police spokesman said.

As well as the al-Aqsa Mosque, the plaza houses the golden Dome of the Rock shrine, which marks the spot from which Muslims believe the Prophet Mohammad made his night journey to heaven.

Jews revere the sacred compound as the site of their Biblical Temple, destroyed by Roman troops in the 1st Century.

OBAMA VISIT

Tension is rising before a visit by Obama to Jerusalem and Ramallah towards the end of the month and the possible resumption of peace talks that broke down in 2010.

A surge in violence in the occupied West Bank over the past several weeks has raised concern in Israel that a new Palestinian uprising could erupt.

The recent violence has focused around the plight of Palestinians held in Israeli jails but it largely subsided last week after Israel agreed to release two hunger-striking inmates in May and they ended their protest.

A Palestinian official said two people have died as a result of the clashes in the past few weeks.

At the West Bank funeral, Palestinian Minister of Prisoners Issa Qaraqea told mourners that Israel's actions would lead to more protstests.

"Instead of releasing prisoners Israel is committing more crimes, the blood of martyr Mohammed will escalate resistance," Qaraqea said.

Palestinians seek a state in the West Bank and the Hamas-run Gaza Strip with Arab East Jerusalem as its capital - territories Israel captured in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and which it still controls.

Peace talks broke down over Palestinian objections to Israel expanding settlements in the occupied land territories. Most of the world considers the settlements illegal.

Israel has called for a resumption of the talks without preconditions.

Predicting that Obama's visit would fail to secure any desired results for the Palestinians, Gaza's Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh called on his West Bank rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who leads the more secular Fatah movement, to choose Palestinian reconciliation over peace talks with Israel.

"As Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims we must not hold hopes on such visit and we must not sell our people illusions," he told worshippers at Friday prayers in Gaza.

"I urge (Abbas) not to fall in the trap of illusion and not to close the door to Palestinian reconciliation," he said. (Additional reporting by Ali Sawafta in Ramallah and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza; Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Angus MacSwan)